Thomas Vanden Driessche January 7, 2013

Thomas Vanden Driessche (b.1979, Belgium) received his master’s degree in journalism and has been working for the United Nations Development program in Morocco and the Belgium Red Cross. His work has been published in Juliette & Victor, Le Soir, Le Nouvel Observateur, The Guardian and Monocle. Thomas joined Out Of Focus collective in February 2011 and is a nominee photographer in the french photo agency Picturetank. Rewarded with a ‘Parole Photographique’ prize in 2009 and five PX3 awards in 2010-2011, and a ‘coup de coeur de l’ANI’ during the festival Visa pour l’image. His work has recently been exhibited n Paris (MK2 Library, Gare de l’Est, Galerie Dupon, Festival Circulations), in Lille (Transphotographiques 2011), in London (Foto 8 summer show) and in Brussels (Palais des Beaux-Arts, The Egg).

About the Photograph:

“This picture of a local family during the Halloween celebration is part of a larger project called Strangely Dampremy that started in 2011 and is still in progress. Dampremy is a small Belgian town nestled between three waste mine tips, a weird graveyard and a recently closed steel plant. Dampremy is a small town that looks like a movie set. It’s an economic tragedy, a place that’s rapidly declined during the past few decades. In a single image you can feel the poverty, the surrealism and the fight for dignity there. The fact that I’m working with an old and heavy Mamiya RB67 slows down the process of making a photograph. It stops reality and allows me to think in a more formal and universal dimension.”

Share this:

Related

About...

Photographer and photo editor Geoffrey Hiller has created Verve Photo to feature photographs and interviews by the finest contemporary image makers today. Verve Photo is a reminder of the power of the still image. Verve Photo will also point you to new photo agencies, publications, and inspiring multimedia projects.